Made in Abyss

The Abyss—a gaping chasm stretching down into the depths of the earth, filled with mysterious creatures and relics from a time long past. How did it come to be? What lies at the bottom? Countless brave individuals, known as Divers, have sought to solve these mysteries of the Abyss, fearlessly descending into its darkest realms. The best and bravest of the Divers, the White Whistles, are hailed as legends by those who remain on the surface.

Riko, daughter of the missing White Whistle Lyza the Annihilator, aspires to become like her mother and explore the furthest reaches of the Abyss. However, just a novice Red Whistle herself, she is only permitted to roam its most upper layer. Even so, Riko has a chance encounter with a mysterious robot with the appearance of an ordinary young boy. She comes to name him Reg, and he has no recollection of the events preceding his discovery. Certain that the technology to create Reg must come from deep within the Abyss, the two decide to venture forth into the chasm to recover his memories and see the bottom of the great pit with their own eyes. However, they know not of the harsh reality that is the true existence of the Abyss.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Reg Main

Ise, Mariya Japanese

Riko Main

Tomita, Miyu Japanese

Nanachi Supporting

Izawa, Shiori Japanese

Bondrewd Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Ouzen Supporting

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

Mitty Supporting

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Lyza Supporting

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Marulk Supporting

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Jiruo Supporting

Murata, Taishi Japanese

Kiyui Supporting

Hanawa, Manami Japanese

Yamashita, Shinpei Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro Producer

Isogai, Noritomo Producer

Ogasawara, Muneki Producer, Planning

Reviews

Jan 4, 2026

k-0da

Recommended

Made in Abyss is a delightfully weird romp through a charming, fantastical world---one that is not nearly as frightening as the people who come to inhabit it.

The animation is wonderful. I never felt I was watching any moment that was low budget, even though the show lacks the climatic battles of Chainsaw Man, or careful character animation in Frieren. The art shines in the show's painted background and wonderfully illustrated world; the world of Made in Abyss feels magical the way 2000s JRPGs did, matching the mechanical-fantasy elements found in games like Chrono Trigger and Xenoblade Chronicles (1).

The music is wonderful, though IMO there weren’t ... as many standout tracks in the OST as I would’ve liked, though Penkin did a wonderful job composing the series’s OP, ED, and character theme songs (I presume). Obviously his work on the OST at large is wonderful, and does a great job at emphasizing the abyss’s fantastic nature.

Made in Abyss is a story about child exploitation. To start bluntly and broadly, yes, the show does put its child characters in “weird” situations with sexual connotations, but I don’t think Made in Abyss is child pornography. I believe that the weird situations exist to construct a narrative of child exploitation; and you can’t do the thing without showing the thing. This does not mean that said depictions of child exploitation are constructed entirely in good taste.

I will refrain from making sweeping judgments about the series’ mangaka, because judgments of that nature are extremely serious and should not be thrown around without physical proof. Part of Made in Abyss’s schtick is that its world is horrifying and deeply uncomfortable, and in creating a world horrifying and uncomfortable, situations arise that child characters should not be in. For the sake of trigger warnings, I will list the memorable scenes with sexual connotations as Specifically, there are multiple scenes where adults threaten (or are shown) to string children up naked for punishment, dress children in “odd” clothing (re: Marulk and Ozen, who I’ll discuss later), children remove their clothes to treat an injury, and one scene where are character has to administer a medicine to another child character anally. The genitalia as mentioned in the last scene is not depicted, and all aforementioned scenes are fleeting, usually only a couple segments in length. As I discussed before, I believe (or at least, would like to believe) that the scenes I listed exist to bolster narrative themes of child exploitation/grooming, but there is an indescribable voyeuristic gaze given to the characters that I cannot ignore.

One child is wearing clothes made out of leaves or very thin cloth, clothes that resemble undergarments more than actual clothing. There is no excuse for that, because that clothing was not a part of that child’s suffering. Made in Abyss attempts to have its horror be as realistic as possible, depicting punishment the Abyss lays onto its explorers who recklessly search it for riches and “adventure”, but fails to depict said suffering without bias; there are still sexual undertones to scenes, and the suffering is not innocent. I cannot call Made in Abyss pedophilia, but it is not a show that escapes the pedophelic gaze of the anime industry at large.

With that out of the way.

The narrative itself is very good. You cannot help but root for Riko and Reg, two children up against horrors, lead and groomed by adults into colonization that will rob them of their humanities. It’s great! Riko can be a bit annoying with her lack of impulse control/problem solving abilities, but it was never enough to turn me off from her completely, and after the last arc of the season, I’m hoping she’ll mature some and press on into the fifth layer. Reg’s desire to protect Riko is just so adorably earnest, that guy deserves a medal for all that he has done and is trying to do for Riko. I am really interested in his backstory!
Made in Abyss succeeds at creating a compelling, layered world that I want to learn everything about. While I wish we got to spend more time on the upper layers, I find myself jonesing to see what’s down, further deep; at the very least, I don’t feel like we’re wasting time. As I believe Geoff Thew once said, Made in Abyss is a world that would be very fun as a videogame or lore book. While aesthetically, it is not astronomically different from the aforementioned potential inspirations/look-a-likes, Made in Abyss is very very good at building tension and mystery surrounding the Abyss itself. The viewer feels the call of the netherworld just as much as Riko does, albeit from the comfort of their homes.

Voyeuristic elements aside, Made in Abyss does a horrifyingly good job at crafting exploitation narratives. Every adult sucks. Full stop. Even the ones that aren’t actively stripping children naked or dressing them in maid uniforms are still grooming children into exploring a place that, objectively, does not want to be explored and should not be explored---especially since it appears to be a tomb. And those adults groom the children into adventuring because they too were orphans groomed by the adults years past to go down into the minds. The cycle of abuse is neverending. Despite it all, Riko and Reg still keep smiles on their faces, their eternal optimism (for the most part) keeping the series watchable, not falling into doom and gloom forever. People call the world of Made in Abyss horrifyingly cruel, which is true; but there is also wonder. The world is beautiful, its mysteries vast, and at the end of the day, Riko and Reg are still having fun, which is needed to keep the viewer from becoming so depressed they turn off their television.

Made in Abyss is a wonderful, uncomfortable show, but well worth the watch. It will not be for everyone, but for those who can stomach its horrors and its flaws, it’s a grand, terrible adventure that reminds us all; sometimes, grass does not need to be touched.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 28, 2025

infinitegreen0

Mixed Feelings

A great fictional story typically needs an interesting setting and world building to pull the audience in, but unfortunately, not all stories capitalize on an otherwise interesting premise. The Purge and Birdbox are examples of this: both stories' worlds are a fascinating blend of horrific and intriguing, yet the actual narratives are quite dull.

Made in Abyss falls into the same category: the characters are marginally interesting but underdeveloped throughout the season; despite all the pain and suffering, the actual stakes of the plot feel strangely undefined and lack a sense of risk; and the pacing vacillates irregularly between a slow crawl and a light jog.

...That ... is until a certain episode, where everything I've just said gets blown into a million pieces. For that alone, Made in Abyss went from a 4/10 to a 7/10 in my book — not enough to salvage the entire season itself and secure a "great" status, but certainly strong enough that I had to rule out giving the anime a "Not Recommended."

If you're willing to stick it out — I promise watching clips on YouTube is not the same experience — Made in Abyss delivers one of the most arresting and wrenching episodes of anime I've ever seen (a certain episode in Dandadan narrowly edges it out, and Devilman Crybaby likewise is a strong contender). It's also self-contained enough that you can watch just the first season and not feel overly left out of the rest of the story; as I said before, once you've learned about the premise and see it in action, the characters themselves aren't strong enough to retain ongoing audience interest. Or at least, not mine.

TLDR: A mostly subpar anime that suddenly wallops its viewers with a truly shocking arc that alone raises my rating significantly. It's worth watching for that, but until then, prepare yourself for a poorly paced, semi-interesting, semi-dull ride. 7/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Dec 10, 2025

hijokaidan

Not Recommended

From the perspective of art direction/animation, characters, voice performance and world-building this anime is very good. I felt a connection to its characters and a fascination with the world introduced, where what little we see of the abyss hints at a greater, cosmic world beyond the season itself, replete with peril and mystery. Where the show loses me is in the occasional sexualisation of the characters, who are children. I won't exaggerate here, it isn't as if it is so explicit and outrageous as to be completely unacceptable, yet I can't deny it did feel wrong to me and uncomfortable to watch. Initially I was ... prepared to rationalise this away, thinking, "I suppose it could simply be a show that is intended for people who are roughly the same age as the characters". Although, even on that front, great anime targeted at younger audiences and indeed featuring younger characters, often has a level of quality and thematic exploration that appeals even to older audiences, and crucially, doesn't involve this questionable sexualisation. What I eventually learned, though, is that this is not an anime that is intended for children; it tackles deeply disturbing themes of existential despair and suffering, not simply gore and violence. So with that in mind I can't in good conscience reconcile the somewhat creepy sexual themes of the show. The matter changes when you consider that it is actually something more geared towards adult audiences. It's a shame because if it weren't for that, I would continue watching. Aside from this element the show feels special to me, as if it might otherwise be a genuine must-watch anime. My score reflects my belief in the overall quality of the season with just one point removed for the themes I mentioned. Realistically, due to my own personal values I would usually regard a work is invalidated due to containing this kind of representation of children, but I feel it's somewhat complicated as far as the actual scoring goes since it's still a great show in my view. It's difficult to score for that reason, but as a final word, I wouldn't actually recommend it to anyone because of this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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